Fastener



N 11,1947.v P. VAN SITTERT Er AL l 2,430,839

FASTENER Filed Oct. 14, 1943 INVENTOR PAUL VAN `Sn-TER-r Y W|LL| R. KovAcS g ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 11, 1947 FASTENER PaulfVan Sttert, Shaker Heights, and William R.

Kovacs, Cleveland, Ghio, assignors to The Cleveland. Pneumatic, Tool. Company, Cleveland, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio ApplicatiorrOctober-"Ifl, 1943, Serial N0. 506,154

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to. fastener-s for temporarily holding together perforatedy .plates or sheets in superposed4 relation preparatory to riveting or the like.

Temporary fasteners of the herein vdescribed type have become generally known in the trade as sheet holders and are usually applied to and removed from the plates or sheets by means of specially designed pliers, one form of which is illustrated in U. S.r Patent No. 2,301,853,` dated November 1.0,. 1942. These sheet holders are being widely used inthe aircraft industry with a great deal of success. However, in the prior art devices, there is a tendency for certain vof the parts Vto becomeV broken, causing the ias-Y teners to spring out of the sheets or pliers and thereby presenting a serious hazard to workers. It is, therefore, an .object of the present invention to provide a temporary fastener, the'parts of which are united in a manner to substantially preclude the possibility of injury to Workers should the fastener break while in use..

Other objects and advantages more or less ancillary -to the foregoing reside in the speci-ficr construction and aggroupment of the velements peculiar to this structure, as will becomey apparent from a more complete examination-fot this specification.

In the `drawing which illustrates. `the invention:

Fig. 1: is a vertical sectional view of the improved fastener about to be inserted ini the sheets.

Fig. `2 is a view similar to` Fig. 1 illustrating the position assumed by the -fastener as it is inserted in aligned holes in the sheets.

Fig. 3 is a front elevationalview of the-fastenery appliedto the sheets.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation and bottom plan View of the head of the fastener.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional `View of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a front elevational. view thereof.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation and bottom plan View of tbe head of the modied fastener.

Referring to the drawing ttor a more detailed description thereof, and `particularly to the preferred form of the invention as` illustrated in Figs. 1 to VIl, inclusive; -a temporary fastener or sheet holder embodying the features of the present invention is generally designated by the reference numeral; lHJ and sshown to comprise a substantially cylindrical shaped housing II formed at its upper end with an external annular flange I2, and having its lower end formed' by a cross wall or base I3 having a cylindrical central .bore I4 formed therein and extending therethrough.

Slidably mounted within the housing- II; and capable of movement through .the bore VHlE isa retainer I5, said retainer being in the shape of a hairpin and. comprising leg portions I6 and ll., the free ends of, which are. formed with enlarged pointed heads i8 and L9, respectively, and

forming an` outwardly inclined lateral projection 2li and 2-.I .engageable with the underside or"A the sheets tofbeA clamped, as. willA be4 hereinafter more fully explained. As more yparticularly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the leg portions` I6 and .I l. `depend irom the head 22 in substantially parallel relation for a portion of their length andare thenbent-inwardly as indicated at 23- from which position they extend downwardly in` substantially parallel relation throughthe-central bore I4.. The retainer lli. is preferably formed. of a` resilient material having a characteristic which would normally cause the ends I8' and` I9. .to flex toward .each other, as illustrated in Fig. 2. However, in .order to maintain said legy portions in substantially parallel relation, there is providedy a spreader 24 having a T-portion 25 normally resting ony the bottom wallV I3 ofthe housing H.. A tailI piece 2t eX- tends downwardly from 4the! T-portion 25 and isnormally positioned between the ends I3 and I9-asvshown in` Fig. l. Extendingoupwardly from the T-portion 2-5 is: a member 2l, the upperend of which is formed withv a hook-like portion 28 adapted` when the parts are in the neutralv position shown in Fig. 1 lof the drawing, to be -conned within the bent area v23 lof the retainer i5. Asisto be understood, the member 2l, T-portion- 2.5, andtail piecef26 are of integral construction, said spreader in `elevation ,beingin the for-m of a cross.

The head 22 is shown detached from the iastener` in Fig. 4 of theV drawing `and comprises a disk 28 from which depends a pair oi spaced arms 29, said arms being of a width substantially equal to the width of the leg portions Iii and I'l so as to conne said portions therebetween when the device is assembled. A pair of aligned openings 3l] eX-tend transversely through the arms 29 adjacent the disk 213 J through which extends a pin 3laround which the U -portion` 3 2' of the retainer I-5 is positioned. Thus the retainer I5 is secured to the head 22 and the spreader 24 is secured to the retainer I-5 to form a compact unit.

Interposed between the upper face of the T portion 25 Aand the lower face 25 of the disk 23' I, isa compression spring 33 for constantly urging the head 22 and retainer I5 upwardly. The lower end `of the spring resting upon the T-portion 25 wil-lr retain the spreader inY a fixed position relative tothe cylinder `I Il at all times.v

5. As itis to be understood, `the fastener Il is designed 'to hold a pair ofV sheets 3d' and 35 in perfect perforate alignment, the enlarged ends I3 and If9 being inserted' through aligned rivet holes 36. provided through the sheets 34 and 35. The

' fastener Iii!` is ordinarily applied to; and. removed from the* sheets by means of specially designed pliers, one jaw of the pliers being in engagement with the head 22 and the other jaw positioned beneath the annular flange I 2 while partially encircling the cylinder II. Upon moving the jaws of the pliers toward each other, the retainer I is projected beyond the bottom wall I3 carrying with it the head 28', and since the ends I8 and I9 are moved beyond the tail piece 26, said ends will flex inwardly as they are inserted through the rivet holes 36 as illustrated in Fig. 2. This movement of the retainer I5 will, of course, compress the spring 33 and as soon as the ends I8 and I9 have passed through the sheets, pressure on the pliersis released permitting the spring 33 to urge the head 22 and unit I5 upwardly. With the cylinder II resting upon the upper face of the sheet, the spring 33 will securely clamp the sheets between the lateral projecting portion 29 and the base I3 of the cylinder. It is, of course, to be understood that in this position the spreader tail piece 26 has also been moved through the rivet holes 36 so as to urge the enlarged ends I8 and I9 outwardly for clamping engagement, and the combined diameter of the leg portions I5 and I6 and thetail piece 26 is equal to or slightly greater than the diameter of the holes 36.

In prior art devices these fasteners have a tendency to break due to constant use, faulty materials, or other reasons. This breakage usually occurs on the enlarged ends of the leg portions or the spreader. With the fastener applied to the sheets as illustrated in Fig. 3, such breakage of the enlarged heads or spreader would release the several parts of Vthe device, permitting the comf pression spring to extend to its limit with the result that the parts would fly upwardly and outwardly, presenting a serious hazard to the workman. When the device is in thesheet gripping position of Fig. 3 the hook 28 will stand about half way between its positions in Figs. 1 and 2. Under that condition if the ends I8, I9 should break off or if the shoulders 2l) and 2| should wear and finally shear oi, the spring 33 would immediately expand, but instead of being permitted to expand fully it would be checked in the condition illustrated in Fig. 1. The whole device including the housing I I might then jump away from the work a short distance. Under the conditions mentioned the retainer and its head 22 cannot be discharged out of the housing II because the spring 33 holds the leg portions I6 and I 'I from spreading apart and consequently the inward bends 23 positively engage the hook 28. The spring of course acts downwardly on the T-portion 25 ofthe spreader at the same time that it acts upwardly against the head 22. Hence, when the parts reach the positions of Fig. 1 further expansion of the spring is impossible. Because of this reduced spring expansion the impetus given the retainer by the sudden release of the spring is greatly reduced and the possibility of injury to an operator is minimized.

In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 of the drawing, there is shown a modied form of the invention, and it will be noted that the spreader 31 is identical with the spreader 24 of the preferred form. The head of the fastener is particularly shown in Fig. 7 and comprises a, disk-like member 38 from which depends relatively short arms 39 united by a cross member 49. The retaining unit 4I is formed of two members 42 and 43, the upper ends of which project laterally inwardly over the cross member 49. As in the preferred form, legs 42 and 43 curve inwardly as indicated at 44 providing a restricted area 45 which confines the hooked end 46 of the spreader 31. This form of the invention may occasionally be desired over the preferred form due to its simplicity in assembling. The use and operation of this form of the invention is substantially the same as in the preferred form, and it will be readily understood that the several parts are united in a manner to substantially preclude the possibility of injury to workers should the stem or spreader break while in use.

Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character, in order to completely set forth the invention, it is to be understood that the speciiic terminology is not intended to be restrictive or confining, and it is to be further understood that various rearrangements of parts and modifications of structural detail may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

We claim:`

1. A device for temporarily clamping together perforated sheets in superposed relation comprising a housing having a sheet engaging base provided with an opening, a head piece movable relative to said housing, said head piece including a pair of spaced downwardly extending arms, a retainer carried by said head piece having leg portions disposed within said downwardly extending arms, the lower ends of said leg portions being operable toward each other and provided with lateral projections, a spreader resting against the inside of said base having a portion interposed between said legs, spring means having one end engaging said head piece and its other end maintaining said spreader in bearing engagement with said base, said spring means drawing said retainer inwardly of said body to urge said lateral projections spaced by said spreader against the underside of the sheets being clamped, and means for uniting said spreader with the legs of said retainer to preclude separation of said spreader and retainer upon accidental detachment of said device from the sheets.

2. In a device of the character described, a cup-shaped housing having an opening in its base, a retainer slidable through said opening, said retainer having a head at its end remote from the base and having resilient legs, a spreader disposed between said legs, the lower ends of said legs being closely spaced and slidable upon said spreader, the upper ends of the legs being widely spaced, said spreader having a transverse portion within the housing engaging the base thereof on both sides of said legs, and a coil spring closely surrounding the widely spaced portions of the legs, engaging said head and said transverse portion, said spreader having an enlargement at its upper end contained entirely within and bridging the space between the widely spaced portions of the legs, said enlargement acting as a stop to limit the relative movement of the retainer and spreader responsive to spring action.

PAUL VAN SITTERT. WILLIAM R. KOVACS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,339,881 Rossman Jan. 25, 1944 2,343,499 Edwards Mar. 7, 1944 2,346,431 Head Apr. 11, 1944 

